Thermostatic apparatus



A. E. COLGATE.

THERMOSTATIC APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 18. 1920.

mwm Patented Apr. 11, 1922.

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fl8 A A M 5 /0 e awve/wtoz l ml UNETED STATES PATENT oaaica.

ARTHUR E. COLGATE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

THERMOSTATIC APPARATUS.

ll ,41 2, a 73.

Application filed May 18,

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ARTHUR E. COLGATE, a citizen of the United States of America,

residing at city of New York, county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Thermostatic Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an apparatus for automatically shutting off and turning on gas, the same being responsive to tempera ture changes. My invention, as particularly shown herein, may be used to great advantage in connection with hot water boilers such as installed in kitchens and in which the water is heated by an auxiliary gas heater attached thereto. In said boilers if the temperature is too high, the water will be. blown out of the boiler and explosion is liable to result. By applying my invention to the side of such a boiler and properly setting the same, when the temperature reaches a predetermined point it will operate to turn off the main gas supply of the gas heater, so as to leave only the pilot light going. WVhen the temperature within the boiler descends below that point, the gas of the main burner will be automatically turned on again, and so on.

The object of the invention is to provide an exceedingly simple, ei'licient and comparatively inexpensive apparatus for accomplishing the above purposes.

In the drawings I have shown in more or less conventional fashion one preferred form of my invention,in which F i 1 is a section ofthe casing or housing showing certain internal parts in front elevation Fig. 2 is a section. of the same housing at right angles to the section of Fig. 1, and

showing certain internal parts in side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a view of certain details;

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view showing the parts in a different position from that shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a detail.

1 represents a gas tight housing or casing having a gas inlet 2 to which a gas supply pipe may be attached and having a gas outlet 3 to which a gas outlet pipe may be attached. In practice the gas leading to the burner to be controlled flows through the housing aforesaid. 4 is a valve for cutting off the passage of gas through the said housing. 5 represents a lever, pivoted at G Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 111, 1922.

1920. Serial No. 382,370. 7

upon a suitable support 7. The valve 4 in a stem 4 which has suitable end guides. 5 is an extension on the free end of the lever 5, which has a passage through which the valve stem 4 freely passes. Mounted upon the valve stem 4 on opposite sides of the extension 5*, are two spaced abutments 8, 8 9, 10 are magnets which face each other, as best seen in Fig. 3, but which are somewhat spaced apart. The end of the extension 5 stands between the ends of said magnets and constitutes an armature. 11 is a spring carried by the arm 5. 12 is an abutment against which the end of the spring bears. This abutment is movable for adjusting the effective tension of the spring. In the form shown, the abutment is mounted upon a stem 13, which has a threaded, gas-tight fit 1n the wall of the housing, but so that access maybe had to the outer end of the screw to turn it to vary the spring tension as desired.

14 is a lever pivoted at 15 within the housing, the free end of this lever being arranged to engage the lever 5 intermediate its length at certain times and for a certain purpose,v

as hereinafter described. 16 is a thermostat, which bears against the back wall of the housing 1, so as to be-responsive to the temperature thereof. In the particular form shown, this thermostat 16 isconstructed to expand and contract after the manner of an accordion or bellows, the same being preferably filled with a gas or liquid sensitive to temperature changes, for example, ether. 17 is a center bearing carried by the front wall of the thermostat and passing freely through a hole in a supporting bar 18, so that the nose of said center bearing may engage the back of the lever 14. 18 is a light spring for holding the thermostat with its back against the back of the housing.

It will be seen'that in the preferred form herein. disclosed the bellows thermostat 16 is loosely or non-rigidly mounted in the casing, that is, the bellows is not secured to the casing but rests flatwise against and is simply supported between the back of the casing or housing and the supporting bar 18. The pin 17 on the thermostatic element passing through the aperture in the bar 18 serves to position the bellows in a lateral direction. 7

Various adjustments may be provided, for example, the magnets may be adjusted to and fro, being held by suitable clamping means, as shown. The free end of the lever 14 may likewise be adjusted, being held by suitable screws 14 In operation, it is obvious that the lever 5 will be yieldingly held in either one of two positions by the magnets 9, 10; that is to say, when the armature end thereof is adjacent to the magnet 9, it will be held in the position shown in Fig. 2, and when the armature end is adjacent to the magnet 10, it will be held in the position indicated in Fig. 4. In Fig. 2 the valve 4 is open, whereby the gas may freely flow through the housing of the main burner; whereas, in Fig. 4, it is obvious that the parts are in a position to cause the valve 4 to close. Thespring 11 should be adjusted so that it will tend to move the lever 5 in a direction to cause the armature end to move toward the magnet 9. 7

Now, assuming the temperature of the back of the housing is increased to a sufficient extent to expand the thermostat 16, the action will be as follows:

As the thermostat expands and the power thereof increases, the end of the lever 14 willengage the lever 5 but will not move it until the power applied is sufiicient to overcome the power of the magnet 9 plus-the power of the spring 11.. When, however, the power of the thermostat becomes sufliciently great, and the parts should be adjusted so that this will occur when the temperature reaches a predetermined point, then the armature will break away from the magnet 9, and the extension 5 will strike against the abutment 8 with a snap action, closing the valve 4 and shutting-off the gas to the main burner and incidentally bringing the,

armature into contact with the magnet 10. The flame being now'cut off, the temperature lowers and the thermostat l6 weakens. When the said thermostat has weakened sufficiently the Spring 11 will exert suflicient power to pull the armature away from the magnet;- 10 and cause it to snap back from the position shown in Fig. 4 to the position shownin Fig. 2. This movement causes the .may occur as the said thermostat is in a weakened condition owing to the lowered stitute a. lost motion connection between the I valve 4 and the thermostatic element 16. .As will be obvious from an inspection of Fig. 2, the thermostat will move an appreciable distance before the lever 14 will be caused to move the lever 5 and consequently the valve stem 4 and valve 4.

It will be seen that the effect of each of the magnets 9 and 10 is to exert a sufficient drag on the armatureso that movement of the lever 5 will not occur until there has" been a sufficient storage of power to elfect the aforesaid snap action, which is desirable, and, indeed, necessary in many cases to guarantee the effective extinguishing of a gas burner, particularly of the Bunsen type.

I claim:

1. A thermostatic valve operating mechanism comprising, a casing having a gas inlet and a gas outlet, and having a wall adapted to be applied directly to the wall of a water heater, an expansible bellows thermostatic element within the casing with the rear wall thereof resting flatwiseagainst the first mentioned wall of the casing where by heat fro-1n said water heater will be trans- 'mitted directly to said thermostatic element through said walls, a valve in said casing for said gas outlet, a lost motion connection between said valve and said thermostatic element including means for multiplying the degree of movement of the latter relatively to the degree of movement of the thermostatic element, and magnetic means for opposing the starting movement of said valve from its open position toward its closed position, and vice versa.

2. A thermostatic valve operating mechanism including a casing having a wall adapted to be applied directly to the wall of a water heater, a gas passage through said casing and a valve therefor, a bellows thermostatic element non-rigidly mounted in said casing, a lost motion connection between said bellows and said valve, a spring for urging one wall of the bellows at all times into contact with one wall of said casing, and means of connection between said element and said valve.

ARTHUR E. C'OLGAT'E. 

